SE Asia Stocks-Philippines trims losses on U.S. reassurance; Singapore up

By Geo Tharappel

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Philippine shares ended lower for a third

straight session on Monday, but recouped some of its earlier

losses after reassuring statements on Washington-Manila ties

from a top U.S. diplomat in Asia, while most other Southeast

Asian markets rose, led by Singapore.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific

Affairs Daniel Russel said the United States remains a "steady

and trusted" partner of the Philippines, but expressed concern

about recent controversial statements made by President Rodrigo

Duterte.

Russel also said Washington was concerned over the loss of

lives, which is "not a positive trend" and is "bad for business

as well".

The Philippine index closed lower after earlier

recording its biggest percentage fall in two weeks, weighed down

by consumer cyclicals, while financials trimmed earlier losses.

Conglomerate SM Investments Corp was the biggest

drag on the index, closing 1.8 percent down, after recording its

biggest intraday percentage fall in more than five weeks and

accounting for more than a quarter of the points lost by the

index.

Singapore shares closed 0.9 percent higher after two

sessions of losses, led by financials and industrials.

The city state's headline consumer price index fell in

September from a year earlier, dragged down by a decline in the

cost of housing, marking the softest decline in inflation since

December 2014.

The all-items consumer price index (CPI) in September

declined 0.2 percent from a year earlier, after falling 0.3

percent in August. The median forecast in a Reuters poll was a

drop of 0.2 percent.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd and

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd were the top gainers

by index points, closing up 1.3 percent and 1.0 percent,

respectively.

The Vietnamese index extended losses to a third session,

closing 1 percent down at its lowest in almost two weeks,

dragged down by consumer staples and energy.

The Malaysian index closed marginally higher and

Indonesian index closed around half a percent up.

Thailand was closed today for a holiday.

For Asian Companies click;

STOCK MARKETS

Change on day

Market Current Prev close Pct Move

Singapore 2856.68 2831.06 0.90

Manila 7609.31 7650.22 -0.53

Jakarta 5420.998 5409.243 0.22

Kuala Lumpur 1677.76 1669.98 0.47

Ho Chi Minh 678.02 684.83 -0.99

Change on year

Market Current End 2015 Pct Move

Singapore 2856.68 2882.73 -0.90

Manila 7609.31 6952.08 9.45

Jakarta 5420.998 4593.008 18.03

Kuala Lumpur 1677.76 1692.51 -0.87

Ho Chi Minh 678.02 579.03 17.10

(Reporting by Geo Tharappel in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha

Gayathri)